World Mythology
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What do Manusmriti and Dharmashastra have to say about homosexuality?
Tales, of God prohibiting certain sexual acts but allowing others, are not found in Hindu mythology.
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Use for Rudolf’s nose
This is the story of the person who does not fit in society’s clearly defined roles: the outsider, the queer. How is that misfit included in society, made useful, rendered valid?
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A Lotus for a Temple
Built in 1986, an architectural marvel, this iconic shrine in Delhi attracts millions of tourists every year.
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Is God judge or accountant?
We live in a web of debts. Debt leads to rebirth. No debt leads to liberation
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Explanation from mythology: Why people voted for Modi, Brexit and Trump — and against Arab Spring
Modern society works on the philosophy of equality. These verdicts are a vote for diversity.
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What Alexander the Great learnt from a Hindu ascetic
[Book extract] For long have Europeans retold Indic mythologies. It is time for Indians to reverse the gaze.
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10 best mythological tales from around the world
Equality is not a rational concept, it is a subjective truth, a belief that comes to us from Abrahamic mythology. Likewise the idea of justice comes from Greek mythology.
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Olympus: An Indian Retelling of the Greek Myths
In this book, mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik turns his attention to ancient Greek tales and explores a new world of stories. Long have Europeans and Americans retold Indic mythologies. It is time for Indians to reverse the gaze.
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Transgenders versus homosexuals
In Greek mythology, there are many stories of homosexual love: where men love men, and women love women. Apollo falls in love with Hyacinthus, while his sister Artemis drives Callisto away when she lets a man make her pregnant.
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Tale of two buildings
Outrage over demolition has nothing to do with rationality. It has to do with ‘meaning’.
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The hermit’s smile: How celibacy, non-violence and purity work to establish patriarchy in India
Of these, purity is the most lethal as it is here where we find the seed of the inhuman practice of untouchability.
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Olympics Began As Tribute To The Departed
There are a number of possible explanations for the practice of funeral games.
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How Indian sages viewed violence (and why western mythology has such different ideas about it)
In Greek myth, violence is part of a movement from chaos to order. But Indian myth lays out that as long as violence exists, it will beget violence.
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The impact of Abrahamic mythology
The tale of the Promised Land mirrors the tale of Eden: returning home to perfection.
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Mythology of equality
Nature has no favourites and every plant and every animal has to fend for itself to survive.
